Courtesy photo by DAN BOYD
The Audi Sport Team Joest R15 TDI and the Sport Total Peugeot 908 are expected to battle for the overall title at the 2011 Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring at Sebring International Raceway.
Published: March 13, 2011
On March 19th Sebring kicks-off the 2011 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron, and the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, attracting the world's top sports car racing teams. The 56-car entry list is proof that 2011 will be something special at Sebring.
If advance ticket sales are any indication, it's going to be one of the biggest crowds ever at Sebring. "The addition of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup entries has created a wave of enthusiasm," stated Sebring President and General Manager Tres Stephenson. "We haven't seen ticket sales at this level so early since the 50th anniversary race in 2002."
Sebring's 12-hour enduro will serve as "dress rehearsal" for Le Mans, with several teams debuting new cars. The brutal 3.7-mile circuit, the toughest road racing facility in the world, is an ideal place to "shakedown" unproven cars before the French 24-hour classic.
There are a lot of unknowns this year at Sebring. New rules, new cars, and several new drivers suggest there could be a lot of surprises. The Audi vs. Peugeot rivalry continues, but rules adjustments will supposedly give gas-powered cars an equal chance against the diesel cars. Some teams have opted to bring last year's cars, modified to meet the new rules. Other teams, like Peugeot, have built entirely new cars. Manufacturers that have had past success at Sebring, such as Toyota and Nissan, are back this year as engine suppliers.
PROTOTYPE CLASSES
The headline Le Mans Prototype 1 (LMP1) category is the pinnacle of international road racing. A total of 12 cars are entered in this elite category.
The defending Sebring-champion Peugeot team returns to Sebring with two new diesel-powered LMP1 prototypes (No. 7 and No. 8). Although they look similar to last year's car, they are actually completely new from the ground up. The new 908 Peugeot prototypes have been testing for several months and should be ready for Sebring's tough circuit, which they successfully conquered last year when they became the first French manufacturer to win America's greatest sports car race. Drivers for Peugeot will include Marc Gene, Alexander Wurz and Anthony Davidson (the winning trio from last year) in the No. 7 entry. Nic Minassian, Stephane Sarrazin and Franck Montagny will drive the No. 8 Peugeot.
Team Oreca Matmut (No. 10) will field an independently entered Peugeot 908, one of last year's cars raced by the Peugeot factory team. Their drivers include Loic Duval and Nicolas Lapierre. The last time the Oreca team competed at Sebring, they swept the GTS category in 2000 with a trio of Dodge Vipers.
Audi has entered two R15 "plus" open-cockpit diesel prototypes, the same cars that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans last year. They have developed a new closed-top R18 entry, but will not race the car until next moth in Europe (despite testing the car extensively here at Sebring over a month ago). Thus, Audi will compete at Sebring with two proven cars modified to meet this year's rules.
The Audi driver lineup, as always, is a stellar collection of former Sebring and Le Mans champions. Tom Kristensen, Sebring' all-time winner with five victories, joins former Sebring champions Dindo Capello and Allan McNish in Audi No. 2. The No. 1 Audi will be driven by Mike Rockenfeller, Romain Dumas and Tim Bernhard, last year's Le Mans winners.
The most competitive non-diesel powered entry appears to be the Rebellion Team, making its first appearance ever at Sebring this year. Its No. 12 Toyota powered Lola coupe is expected to be one of the top challengers to the Peugeot and Audi domination. Drivers include Nicolas Prost, Neel Jani and Jeroen Bleekemolen.
The No. 06 Aston Martin coupe (the same car that finished third here last year behind the Peugeots) has been entered by the Muscle Milk team for drivers Greg Pickett, Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr. Pickett's team won the LMP2 category here last year with a Porsche. This car tested here extensively last month and is proven in both speed and reliability.
Two American teams are among the contenders in the LMP1 class. Dyson Racing returns with its Lola powered Mazda (No. 16) and drivers Chris Dyson, Guy Smith and Jay Cochran. The Dyson team has two decades of experience at Sebring, and has finished second here twice. The Highcroft Honda team (No. 01) is the defending ALMS champion. They return with the trio of David Brabham, Simon Pagenaud and Marino Franchitti at the wheel.
The Oak Racing team from France has launched an impressive campaign in the ILMC. Two Gulf-sponsored Pescarolo LMP1 entries (originally built in the shop of racing legend Henri Pescarolo) will be on the grid Saturday (No. 15 and No. 24).
Five cars will contest the LMP2 category, which consists of cars lighter and less powerful than the LMP1 entries.
After a successful campaign last year in the LMPC category, Level 5 Racing is moving up to LMP2. They will enter two new Honda Lolas (No. 33 and No. 095) for drivers Scott Tucker, Luis Diaz and Christophe Bouchut. The No. 33 is part of the team's ILMC entry and features the new Coupe version of the Lola. Meanwhile, the No. 095 will be part of a two-car ALMS team for the rest of the season. Level 5 is the clear favorite for the season title, but these cars will likely need further development.
The LNT team (No. 05) has entered a Ginetta Radical for drivers Andrew Prendeville, Luke Hines and Rusty Mitchell. Oak Racing, in addition to its LMP1 entry, will field a Pescarolo Judd (No. 35) in LMP2.
Nissan returns to endurance racing as the engine supplier to the SignaTech team (No. 26) from France and its new Oreca chassis. Sebring veterans will remember that Nissan was a dominating force at Sebring from 1989 to 1994.
The Le Mans Prototype Challenge (LMPC) category has eight entries. LMPC made its debut at Sebring last year, and proved to be a very successful and cost-effective class for teams that wish to work their way up to LMP2 and LMP1. All cars in this spec-class are identical Oreca chassis racecars powered by a Chevrolet engine.
The two-car Core Autosport team (No. 005 and No. 006) should be a top contender with drivers Gunnar Jeannette, Ricardo Gonzalez and Jon Bennett. Another two-car team is fielded by Genoa Racing (No. 036 and No. 063) for a driving lineup that includes Eric Lux, Christian Zugel and Elton Julian.
Woodard Racing from England (No. 038) has filed an entry along with the PR1 Mathiasen Team (No. 052). Intersport Racing (No. 089) returns with drivers Kyle Marcelli, Tomy Drisi and Rusty Mitchell. The No. 018 Performance Tech team rounds out a very competitive category in which the winning car could easily break the top ten in the overall standings.
GT CLASSES
The 24-car GT entry makes this class one of the highlights of the 59th Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida. (The GT cars participating in the ILMC are further categorized as either Pro and Am entries, although the American Le Mans Series is not using this designation for the upcoming season).
Predicting a winner in the GT class will be a tough call. Several manufacturers have a good chance at winning in GT, with the favorites being BMW, Ferrari, Porsche and Corvette. Ford, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Panoz and Lamborghini are long shots.
The GM/Corvette team returns with two entries (No. 03 and No. 04) for drivers Olivier Beretta, Oliver Gavin, Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen, Richard Westbrook and Tommy Milner. Corvette had an "off" year in 2010, including a disastrous start at Sebring when both entries collided in the pits. You can expect Team Corvette to be among the GT leaders this season. Pre-season testing suggests the Corvettes will be tough to beat.
The Larbre Corvette team from France (No. 50) will represent GM/Corvette in the ILMC this season, and comes to Sebring as one of the favorites with drivers Patrick Bornhauser, Julien Canal and Gabriele Cardel.
The defending ALMS champion BMW Motorsport team is back at Sebring with a two-car entry. The No. 55 will have Augusto Farfus, Bil Auberlen and Dirk Werner at the wheel, while the No. 56 will feature drivers Joey Hand, Dirk Mueller and Andy Priaulx.
Ferrari and Porsche have been the rivals in this class for many years, and 2011 will be no different at Sebring. Unlike previous years, however, Ferrari will have strength in numbers. No less than seven Ferrari entries will be on the GT grid, compared to five Porsches (although Porsche will have eight cars in the GTC class).
The Risi team (No. 062) is one of the top contenders with its new Ferrari F458 Italia. Driver Jaime Melo anchors this team, which owns several Sebring and Le Mans GT wins over the past few years. The Extreme Speed Ferrari team (No. 001and No. 002) should be in contention with drivers Scott Sharp, Guy Cosmo, Ed Brown and Johannes van Overbeek.
The Krohn Racing team (No. 57) has entered a Ferrari F430 for the entire ILMC season. Nic Jonsson and Tracy Krohn will handle the driving duties. The Luxury Racing team from France (No. 59), CRS Racing (No. 62), and AF Corse (No. 51) round-out an incredible field of beautiful Ferrari entries.
The Porsche Sebring effort will be led by the Flying Lizard Team (No. 44 and No. 45) with drivers Joerg Bergmeister, Patrick Long, Marc Lieb, Darren Law, Seth Neiman and Marco Holzer. Flying Lizard has been a Sebring fan favorite for several years, and they should be in the battle for a win.
The Proton Competition Porsche team (No. 63) will campaign the full ILMC season. Richard Lietz will lead the driving duties. The Team Falken Porsche team (No. 017) should be a strong contender with Wolf Henler, Bryan Sellers and Martin Ragginger driving. Rounding out the Porsche effort will be the No. 048 Paul Miller Racing team.
Robertson Racing has expanded to a two-car team this season (No. 040 and No. 004). Their two Doran Ford GTs look to be much improved and could be contenders for a podium finish at Sebring. Drivers will include Andrea and David Robertson, David Murry, and Anthony Lazzaro.
Jaguar has entered two cars (No. 098 and No. 099) for Sebring. After a disappointing debut season, team owner Paul Gentilozzi is looking for big improvements in 2011. Among the drivers for Jaguar will be former Indy car stars Bruno Junqueria, P.J. Jones, Cristiano Da Matta and Oriol Servia.
An exotic new Lamborghini Gallardo (No. 008) has been entered by West Racing for drivers Nicky Pastorelli and Dominik Schwager. This sleek Italian machine was tested for the first time at Sebring back in February and showed promising lap times.
Aston Martin will be represented in the GT category by the Gulf AMR Middle East team (No. 60). Drivers are scheduled to be Fabien Giroix, Roald Giethe and Michael Wainwright.
The new Panoz Abruzzi (No. 050) plans to make its competition debut in the 12 hour classic. Drivers Ian James and Ben Leuenberger have been named to give the Abruzzi its first real workout.
The GTC class is strictly for Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars. Eight teams will be contesting this category. Leading the way is Alex Job Racing, which swept the top three positions here last year. For this year's event, they have entered the No. 026 Porsche for drivers Bill Sweedler, Leh Keen and Brian Wong.
The No. 054 Black Swan Porsche should be a contender in this class. Tim Pappas, Damien Faulkner and Sebastian Bleekemolen are driving this entry.
Kelly Moss Motorsports (No. 034) and the TRG team (No. 066) are long-time Porsche competitors with plenty of experience. The GTC field also includes the No. 011 JDX Racing Team, No. 032 GMG team and the No. 077 Magnus entry.
Add in five different supporting races and plenty of off-track fan activities, and Sebring 2011 is shaping up to be one of the best ever!
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